Around the Yards

NORTHEAST

Libby boats designed to pack a lot of weight; diesel record set at Maine lobster boat races

By Michael Crowley

The East Side Boat Shop launched the “Yes Dear,” a 41 Libby, for a Rockland lobsterman.

T

he East Side Boat Shop in Machiasport, Maine, launched the “Yes Dear,” a 41' x 15' 8" Libby with a 1,000-hp FPT, for a Rockland, Maine, lobsterman. Frank Co n, the shop’s owner, gures the FPT will easily get the “Yes Dear” to 32 or 33 knots.

He describes the “Yes Dear” as a “standard plain-Jane lobster boat. Nothing fancy.” It is composite constructed with a split wheelhouse, V-berths forward, an open stern with a tailgate, but no lobster tanks or rope lockers.

The East Side Boat Shop has the Libby 34, 38, 41 and 47 molds. Co n has found the Ernest Libby designed hulls to be very good at carrying a lot of weight. The owner of a 47 Libby that Co n built a few years back reported that with 220 lobster traps aboard, along with all its trawl ropes and bay ropes and full fuel tanks, she was able to cruise at 15 to 16 knots. The boat’s owner told Co n, “I’d like to see any of these other hulls go that fast with that much weight in them.”

Co n attributes the Libby weightcarrying capacity to the hull’s rocker. “The Libby’s got a di erent type of rocker in her. They don’t jump up; they just rise as they are going along. They ride their weight more on the middle of the boat.”

The fourth week in June, another 41 Libby was nearly completed for a lobsterman on Bailey Island, Maine. She’s out tted a bit more extensively than the “Yes Dear,”with lobster tanks, a rope locker, aluminum framed windows, stainless steering and an on-demand hydraulic system. A 700-hp Volvo should have her cruising at 28 to 29 knots.

In the yard outside the shop is a hull that will be a plug for a new 41 Libby mold. This one will have a 10-inch deeper keel to allow for a bigger wheel and 5- to 7-inch-higher sides. “These guys are running such horsepower now,” says Co n, “that you can’t get a wheel under her. The average now is 800 to 1,000 hp. You don’t need it.”

Maine’s lobster boat racing passed the halfway mark with races at Stonington on July 11, Friendship on July 18 and Harpswell on July 25; 142 boats showed up for the three races. More boats would undoubtedly have come were it not for heavy rain and choppy racing conditions at Friendship and Harpswell.

The Harpswell “races were fun to watch to see if they could keep them on the bottom; (the boats) were mostly in the air,” says Jon Johansen, president of Maine Lobster Boat Racing.

The rainy conditions also meant that speeds weren’t available for most races. Though that wasn’t an issue at Stonington with 75 boats, including Wild Wild West, a West 28 with a 1,050-hp Isotta, which showed up for its rst race of the season. She set a new diesel record, hitting 61.6 mph in the Non-Working Boats, any length, and any horsepower class.

Blue Eyed Girl, a Morgan Bay 38 with a 900-hp Scania, which won several races earlier in the season, took rst in Diesel Class K, 701 to 900 hp, 28 feet to 39 feet 11 inches, the Fastest Lobster Boat A oat race and the Andrew Gove Memorial Cup — Fastest Working Lobster Boat. Andrew Gove died at 90 after a long career of shing and racing his boat Uncle’s UFO, a Northern Bay 36 with a

Continued on page 37

Friendship Boats Downeast Nightmare was the top boat at the Harpswell races.

SOUTH

OSV becomes oyster planter in Alabama yard; museum shop fi nishes last of late builder’s deadrises

By Larry Chowning

Larry Chowning Hopeful Harvest is a Gulf of Mexico offshore supply vessel converted to a Chesapeake Bay oyster planter.

T

he 96' x 24' Hopeful Harvest recently made the eight-day voyage from the Gulf of Mexico to Chesapeake Bay with its captain and crew from Bayou La Batre, Ala.

As mentioned in the August column, Bayou Shipbuilding & Services in Mobile, Ala., converted the o shore supply vessel into an oyster planter for W.E. Kellum Seafood in Weems, Va.

The hull of Hopeful Harvest was built in 1982 as an OSV used to haul supplies, and certi ed then to carry 32 passengers to and from oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. Je Kellum, one of three brothers who own W.E. Kellum Seafood and Kellum Brothers, says he purchased the boat in Venice, La., at a bank foreclosure sale.

Bayou Shipbuilding & Services sandblasted and painted the boat and made changes to accommodate the Kellums’ oyster planting business. As an OSV, starboard and port deck sides were solid from the house to the stern. The yard cut rectangular slots in the sides so spat and shell can be blown through the slots o the deck and into the water.

A high-pressure water cannon was installed just aft of the house to blast the shell and spat o the deck. The cannon pump runs o a Caterpillar 3208 Diesel engine. Hopeful Harvest can carry 3,000 bushels of shell or spat which can be o loaded in 20 minutes.

The yard also reworked the wheel and shaft and built a containment trough under the shaft so when water collects it can be pumped out by way of a bilge pump.

New World Electronics of Bayou La Batre installed a Furuno radar, Si-Tex satellite compass, Simrad A2004 autopilot pack, Comnav Jog Lever steering system, and a VHF radio.

The boat has a stateroom with four bunks and a full galley to accommodate crew. Hopeful Harvest is powered by two 12V-71, 450-hp Detroit Diesel engines, and it has two Detroit 3-71 30-kW marine diesel generators to run the electrical system.

Since the boat arrived in Weems, the Kellumses have used it to plant six loads of spat and shell on Temple Bay oyster rock in the Rappahannock River for Virginia’s Oyster Replenishment Program.

A couple years ago, I was invited to see the last boat built by Francis “Pap” Harper Jones of Ocran, Va., who on his death left a wooden deadrise hull un nished inside his shop. His death in 1979 brought an end to the work on the boat and the operation of his boatshop. The un nished hull sat inside the shop for 40 years. For a longtime boating writer, it was like an archaeologist entering an Egyptian tomb and nding a pharaoh’s golden casket. There was an array of planks, fasteners and old tools left from the last day Jones worked, and the hull was perfectly preserved.

This brings up an interesting aspect of boatbuilding seldom mentioned: What’s to be done with that last boat, still in the shed and no one left to nish it?

That was the dilemma of Martha Oliver and Willard “Tuna” Norris of Deltaville, Va., whose father, Willard Hamilton Norris, passed away on Jan. 7, 2021, at 94 years of age. (See the April 2021 column). When Norris died, there was a 25' x 9' deadrise hull under construction in his shop and the family ended up giving it to the Deltaville Maritime Museum boatshop.

“Martha and Tuna were getting ready to sell the house and boat shed, and needed a place for the boat to go,” says John England, museum boatshop director.

“We used the block and tackle in the ceiling of Willard’s boatshop to hoist the

WEST

Oregon yard extends a couple of crabbers; dragger and crabber repaired at Washington shop

By Michael Crowley

Fred Wahl Marine Construction sponsoned and lengthened the Winona J.

T

he Winona J arrived at

Fred Wahl Marine Con-

struction in Reedsport, Ore., measuring 68' x 22'. The West Coast crabber and shrimper left at the end of June, after being sponsoned and lengthened to 70' x 31' 8". And whereas she could only use the front fi sh hold before, “now it can use both tanks and still have crab pots onboard,” says Fred Wahl Marine’s Mike Wahl.

A much more extensive rebuilding job involved the 98' x 32' Bering Sea crabber Keta that was hauled out at Fred Wahl Marine Construction for seven months. It didn’t take long before that length measurement changed, starting with cutting off the hull aft of the engine room bulkhead and discarding it.

Its replacement stretches back 83 feet, giving the Keta an overall length of 123 feet. While the new stern section was being built, the engine room was gutted out, rewired, and given new generators and a new 1,100-hp Mitsubishi main engine. The Keta’s additional length increased its fi sh hold and fuel carrying capacities. (See the feature story on page 26.)

After the Keta left on sea trials at the end of July, work continued on a 58' x 30' spec boat. It should be completed by mid-August when the Alaska Trojan, which fi shes out of Dutch Harbor, is due in to be sponsoned from 130' x 30' to 130' x 41'. The additional beam will give her “more pot carrying capacity and allow her to fi sh in harder weather,” says Wahl.

Smaller projects included the 68' x 24' Noyo Dawn, a shrimper and crabber out of California that was hauled for some work on her prop and a paint job. Another short-term project was the 72-foot shrimper and crabber Excalibur that received a paint job and a new Nautican system. Instead of buying a new engine, “he’s trying to gain as much effi ciency as he can out of the (existing) engine,” says Wahl.

Expanding its appeal to owners of larger vessels, Fred Wahl Marine Construction, which currently has a 685-ton travel lift, will have a new 820-ton travel lift in operation this fall.

Hansen Boat Co. in Everett, Wash., had a couple of boats in from Seattle’s Fury Group for dry-docking and repairs. They were the Arctic Fury, a 135-foot pollock, hake and whiting dragger, and the 125-foot Ocean Fury, a crabber and salmon tender.

The Arctic Fury had corrosion issues at the ends of its two generators. They needed to be removed from the boat but couldn’t be taken out through the interior passageway. So a hole was cut in the deck, and the two generator ends were pulled up through the opening, rebuilt and then reinstalled. Before leaving, the Arctic Fury’s hull and bottom were painted.

Work on the Ocean Fury was more extensive. She was in for nearly two

Hansen Boat Co. dry-docked the dragger Arctic Fury to have its generators overhauled and bottom painted.

months for engine and shaft work. N.C. Machinery did most of the engine work with some assistance from Hansen Boat. “They had the head o and basically did a rebuild, though not 100 percent,” said Hansen Boat Co.’s Rick Hansen.

One of the shaft bearings was replaced. Then on the dripless stu ng box, the seal was removed and replaced by the spare seal that’s around the shaft, and a new spare seal went on the shaft. The split clamping plate for the seal was worn and needed to be remachined. In addition, the water supply hose that lubricates it was replaced.

“So, there’s a little bit of messing around with their stu ng box,” says Hansen. It’s not a matter of pulling the packing out and putting packing back in “because it’s set up with a mechanical seal on it.”

The deck crane also had issues that required general maintenance, including resealing the bottom of the crane to prevent hydraulic leakage.

Hansen said the Ocean Fury is an early Marco boat, built sometime in the 1970s “as a standard Marco crab boat. They’ve kept it up. It comes in about every two years with a wish list of things to do.”

Around the Yards: Northeast

Continued from page 34

900-hp Mack. He raced up until the last couple of years of his life.

At Friendship, where 30 boats showed up, Blue Eyed Girl also won her races. But La Bella Vita, a Northern Bay 38 with an 815-hp FPT, was close in both the Diesel Class K and the Diesel FreeFor-All, losing by only a boat length.

Foolish Pleasure, a 30-foot Riley Beal with a 650-hp 455 Stroker, which usually runs in the low-40 mph range, was the fastest gas-powered boat at Friendship, winning Gasoline Class D, V-8, 376 hp and over, 28 feet and over and the Gasoline Free for All.

The attendance was a little better at Harpswell but not great, with just 37 boats arriving. No one came from the eastward or Downeast, as Mainers say. Among those deciding to stay home were Blue Eyed Girl, Wild Wild West and Foolish Pleasure.

The top boat of the day was Downeast Nightmare, a Mussel Ridge 28 with a 1,000-hp Chevy with a blower. She won her class, Gasoline Class E, V-8, Over 525 cid, 28 feet and over, supercharged/turbos, as well as the Gasoline Free For All and the Fastest Lobster Boat race.

Around the Yards: South

Continued from page 35

boat up onto our trailer and then we hauled it to our boatshop,” he says. “We are going to nish it o exactly the way Willard would have done it.”

The museum plans to sell the boat on completion. But before it’s sold, the organization plans to hold a celebration to honor Norris and to thank the Norris family for donating the boat, says England.

“We are delighted and honored to have the opportunity to nish Willard Norris’s last boat!” he says.

The structural elements of the boat — including the 8" x 8" keel, chine log and timbers — are made from yellow pine. The cross-planked bottom and longitudinally laid sides are made of spruce. The bottom will be glassed over with 1208 biaxial cloth and resin.

England says the museum boatshop has built several deadrise boats of this size. Oystermen nd the platform to be ideal for working in Virginia’s wintertime public oyster dredge shery.

“I don’t think we will have any trouble nding a home for this boat,” says England. “It is ideal for working crab pots and dredging oysters, and it is Willard’s last boat.”

BJ5000EX, ROLLERS, SQUID SYSTEMS, NET HAULERS, MACKEREL LINES

FAST - FRIENDLY SERVICE - SAME DAY SHIPPING

email: gaskimarine@outlook.com phone: 902-701-8210 ∙ www.gaskimarine.com

WE KNOW THE WATERS.

Since 1976, LBB has helped individuals, organizations, and communities in every region of Alaska address complex and important fishery issues. Our work includes employment advice; fisheries resources management and development; permitting and regulatory compliance; tax liability; commercial transactions; and federal and state litigation.